A Fading Memory
by Tsuki the Wolf
Summary: Chara suggested that it was time for Asriel to live too. When Frisk heard that, they came up with two plans. This is the second plan. (An alternate ending to the Dreams of the Past and Present series)


**A/N: The background music for the Frisk's half of the story is from the Life is Strange soundtrack. It's "Mountains" by Message to Bears. I recommend the extended version.**

 **I hope this ending is as creative as you wanted!**

* * *

Sans would never forgive you for this. Which, you supposed, was fine because you doubt he would ever remember you anyway. You tried not to think about that right now. You had to maintain the façade that everything was fine, even as you decided to destroy everything that you knew and loved. You pushed the door open to Sans's astronomy lab and stood in the doorway for a few moments. It had become so much messier in the twelve years since he had remodeled the room from a lab into his hobby room. The technology was better as Sans became more serious about the work he was doing. His fancy telescopes were carefully put away and lined against the wall. The screen still displayed galaxies, although you didn't recognize this particular one. Sans still had your old solar system model hanging from the ceiling.

It hurt to know that all of this work would be undone soon.

You clenched your jaw as pain sent ice through your veins. You needed to focus. Your friends would be here soon. You needed to do this before they got here. You had to secure the future. If you thought about this for too long, you would give up. You wished your determination was steadier. You had to remind yourself why you were doing this. It was okay. It was okay.

You located Sans's lunchbox easily. He didn't really hide it anymore. It had dust on it from being hidden away for so many years. You two hadn't touched it in at least five years when Sans had taught you the basics of Wing Dings. At the time he had been confused on why you would want to bother to learn, but you had made up some kind of excuse. You couldn't even remember how you had convinced him, but you knew enough now that you could read his words. You already knew what most of them said. You needed to sift through them to separate any and all notes that appeared after you all exited the Underground in this timeline.

You froze as you found the pictures of your human parents, as well as the group picture of you with your new family. All of you looked so happy. You imagined what the pictures would look like without you in them. Like those old shows where the person would just fade out of the picture, forgotten and lost. What would it be like? Maybe this was how Gaster had felt.

Your hands clenched automatically, crumpling the notes and pictures in your hands as a sob broke through your steel wall of emotion. Your body was trembling. You worked rapidly to rein it back in. Just a little longer. You just needed to hold out a little bit longer.

You finished separating the notes and put the old ones back into the box. You placed the box back in the drawer and shut it before crumbling all of the papers into a ball and climbing back up the stairs to the kitchen of Sans and Papyrus's house.

"what'cha got there, buddy?" You jumped at the unexpected voice and spun around to find your friends all in the living room. You hadn't even heard them come in. Had you been so caught up in yourself that you hadn't even realized you weren't alone? You weren't ready for this.

Sans's eyes traveled down your arm to the papers you were holding. His eyes flickered with recognition before they darted back to your face. You shoved the papers into your pocket guiltily. You hadn't wanted them to see that. They weren't supposed to know.

"Frisk? Why did you call us here?" Asgore asked cheerfully. There was a good humor about your friends, clearly thinking you had some kind of surprise for them. You didn't want to do this. You took in the happy look on their faces. You would need to remember this.

Their cheer died down as they took in your stricken face. Toriel moved towards you, but you stepped back. "Frisk?" She asked.

You met each of their eyes, stopping on Sans's, before you ducked your head. The words caught in your throat. You pushed past them. "I'm sorry." You whispered.

"FOR WHAT?" Papyrus asked.

"frisk . . ." Sans's voice was starting to develop some alarm. Your body was shaking.

"I'm so sorry." You could barely talk. The tears came unwillingly. Your throat closed up. You tilted your head back to regain yourself a bit. It didn't help. You looked back at your friends. They were all on their feet, alarmed by your tears. It had been a long time since you had last cried. You wished that it helped you. "I . . . I wanted everyone here so I . . . so I could s-say goodbye."

"What are you talking about?!" Undyne demanded.

"F-Frisk do you need help? Is something the matter?" Alphys asked.

You shook your head and lifted a trembling hand. Though faded and wavering, two screens appeared before you. You didn't think the others could see them until you saw how Sans's eyes shrank. Your mother's hands flew to her mouth. You hand hovered over the **[RESET]** button.

"no, frisk, don't!" Sans begged. He reached to grab you, but you jumped back. Sans held his hands up like he was trying to placate a frightened animal. "don't do this, kid. we have a promise, remember?"

"Did something happen, Frisk?" Asgore's voice was deep and slow, confused but serious as he tried to approach you. His eyes were shiny with his worry. "Are you unhappy?"

You swallowed unable to answer.

"WHATEVER IT IS, WE CAN HELP! YOU'RE NOT ALONE, FRISK! YOU DON'T NEED TO RESET!" Papyrus added. The **[RESET]** button wavered.

"please." Sans whispered. You could see the haunted look on his face. He already knew, you could tell, that nothing they said would convince you otherwise. But he had to try anyway. "please, frisk, don't. i don't want to forget this timeline. don't erase this. don't send us back there."

You sobbed. "I'm sorry! I promise . . . this end will be better! I promise!"

"No, FRI−!"

 **[TRUE RESET]**

* * *

You awoke in a garden of golden flowers, your head spinning with confusion as you stared upwards. You were . . . alive? How? You had fallen down. You remembered falling backwards down into the giant hole in the mountain. But here you were, alive. You stared upwards seeing the last dredges of light seeping through the hole you had fallen through. You were Alice and you had just fallen down a very large rabbit hole.

You sat up, wincing at the pain along your body. You didn't feel too good. At least the pain let you know that you were really awake. Where were you, though? You looked around. You were in a patch of golden flowers, green grass under your hands. You appeared to be in some kind of rocky cavern. There were pillars here, though you couldn't see the tops of them to see what they were holding up. There was a hallway of sorts leading to some entranceway. You gazed down it, curious but scared to see where it went.

You didn't really have much of a choice, you thought. You couldn't climb back up and you couldn't go anywhere else. That was the only way to go. So this is where all of the children had "disappeared" to. Clearly someone was living down here, otherwise these ruined pillars wouldn't be here. And these flowers seemed very well cared for. Water wouldn't be able to enter the cave and fall down here enough to water them. This was somebody's garden.

You climbed to your feet and picked up your large stick (which had managed to survive the fall with you) and decided to follow the path. You didn't know where it would take you, but you supposed that was the fun of it. You walked past the entryway into a large dark room. There was a single light shining down from the ceiling, displaying a single flower. You were shocked to find the flower had a face. It smiled at you and moved as you approached it.

"Howdy!" It said. It's voice was a little higher pitched, but you could definitely tell it was more a male flower. Did flowers have genders? You were pretty sure flowers had both, to be honest. "I'm Flowey! Flowey the Flower!" The flower regarded you with a hum, eyeing you cheerfully. You decided you liked the flower. "You're new to the Underground, aren'tcha?"

You frowned. Underground? Was that the name of this place? You nodded warily.

"Golly, you must be so confused." Flowey said, sympathetic. "Someone ought to teach you how things work around here! Guess little old me will have to do. Ready? Here we go!"

The strangest sensation happened then. _Something_ grabbed you from the inside of your chest, making you gasp, before a little red heart appear from you chest. Your vision wavered, switching down to what the heart seemed to see. You panicked a little. You could feel your body, but most of your movements moved this little heart instead. You didn't know what was happening. Your "vision" was in all black and white now. You wanted to run, but you found that your physical body wouldn't respond to any commands. You were a heart now.

"See that heart?" Flowey asked you, catching your attention, "That is your Soul, the very culmination of your being! Your Soul starts off weak, but can grow strong if you gain a lot of LV." He said "LV" like an acronym. You had played video games enough to know that LV stood for Level. Were you dreaming? Were you in a video game? Maybe you really had died when you had fallen down.

"What's LV stand for?" Flowey continued, "Why, LOVE, of course!" Oh, so it wasn't level. How does a person gain love? This was all strange. "You want some LOVE, don't you?" You wanted to nod, but you couldn't move your physical body like this. Instead you did nothing. "Don't worry, I'll share some with you!" He winked, his tongue sticking out playfully.

How did someone share love with you? Were you going to get a hug? You were starting to hope you could just go back to normal. Why were you your Soul right now? "Down here," he began again as little white pellets appeared from behind him and floated around him. You stared. You were almost positive you were in a video game at this point, "LOVE is shared through . . . little white . . . 'friendliness pellets.'" Well that was one way to share love, you supposed. You weren't so sure about this, however. If this was a game, you didn't think that being touched by those things would be good for you. However Flowey had been nothing but kind to you. You decided to trust him. "Are you ready?" He asked. "Move around! Get as many as you can!"

You did so, moving you Soul effortlessly. However the moment you touched one of the pellets, pain ripped through your entire being. You cried out and felt your body fall to its knees. You felt like someone had just stabbed you, or like you had been shot. You were almost certain this is what it felt like. You could feel the tears of agony appear in your eyes, but your Soul vision was unclouded by the tears.

Flowey barked out a laugh, his cheerful smiling face contorting into a monstrous grin that you wished you could shrink away from. "You idiot." He growled, wickedly delighted. His voice was deeper now and much more menacing. Your body trembled a little, your heart thudding painfully in your chest. "In this world, it's kill or BE killed. Why would ANYONE pass up an opportunity like this!?" The white unfriendly pellets suddenly surrounded you on all sides. " **DIE**." His voice echoed through the cavern.

You cried out above his laughter as the pellets closed in on you. You tried to run, but you couldn't move your body. Your Soul could only move so far from your body. It was like you were trapped in a box. And then the pellets breached your box, giving you less and less room to float. You couldn't break through it. You realized you were going to die, and you were terrified. You didn't want to die. You didn't want to die!

However right before the pellets touched you, a warmth heated up your entire body swiftly until all of your pain was gone. The pellets disappeared, leaving you just as baffled as Flowey was. He glared and opened his mouth to say something, but a fireball appeared next to him and knocked him away. You gasped at the tiny cry of pain he gave.

"What a terrible creature, torturing such a poor, innocent youth . . ." The voice of your savior said. You could only gape as the largest creature you had ever seen in your life appeared then. It was a monster, plain and simple, but she didn't seem like any kind of monster you had ever seen before. She looked to be some kind of goat or cow with small horns on her head and long fluffy white ears. She was dressed simply in a tunic with a crest on it you had never seen before. Her face was pitying and kind as she took in the sight of you on the floor. You wondered if she would hurt you too. You couldn't run when you were like this.

"Ah," her voice softened as she realized just how terrified you were, "do not be afraid, my child. I am Toriel, caretaker of the Ruins. I pass through this place every day to see if anyone has fallen down. You are the first human to come here in a long time." So the other children _had_ fallen down here. Or, at least, these monsters had met humans before. Toriel held her hand out to you. It was a large paw with claws and fur, but you could feel the gentle warmth radiating from it. You didn't know why, but you wanted to trust this Toriel. She gave you a feeling of comfort. "Come!" She commanded. "I will guide you through the catacombs."

Your Soul suddenly faded, and your vision returned to your body. Color flooded your eyes revealing that Toriel did indeed have white fur, but her tunic was a rich purple. Her eyes were a soothing golden brown. You hesitated, but then took her hand as she helped you up. Her paw completely encompassed your hand, but she released you when you were steady on your feet. She folded her hands in front of her.

"This way." Toriel told you, and began walking back from where you guessed she had come from. You glanced towards where Flowey was flung, but you no longer saw him. You wiped your eyes and followed Toriel.

She led you into a completely new world. This place was no cave, but rather the remnants of some community. Of monsters, you wondered? The places was littered with puzzles, which from how Toriel made it sound was a common thing among monsters. You still hadn't ruled out the possibility that you were in a video game. She led you both literally and metaphorically by the hand through the various puzzles until she had to leave you alone claiming she had errands to run.

The hallway you were in was extremely long and empty. Vines grew on the walls in places. The monsters did not bother you in here. Toriel had asked you to stay there, but you wondered how long you would wait. The doorway to your left was tempting you to go through. Honestly the Ruins didn't seem that scary. Nobody had tried to hurt you like Flowey had done. You weren't sure if Flowey could enter the Ruins considering the hard stone on the floor.

Your fingers began to fiddle with the ring on them, spinning it around idly. You glanced at the cell phone beside you that Toriel had given you. It was an old thing, but you supposed it worked well. You should probably test it. Toriel had given you her number, after all. This phone didn't look like it even had a texting feature.

Wait. You froze and looked at your hand. You didn't own a ring. You hadn't been wearing one when you had fallen into the Underground. You'd only had the clothes on your back and the stick you had arrived with. Well, those and the band-aid you were still wearing. You stared at the ring, examining it. It was on your ring finger much like a wedding band. It was an off-color silver with a little ruby heart topping it. Your heart ached strangely at the sight. You didn't understand where this had come from, but it was . . . familiar? Was it an item the "game" had given you? It looked like your Soul, after all.

But that was always the joke, wasn't it? That the ruby looked both like a heart and like your Soul. Sans had a way of leveling puns on top of each other. He had teased you when you tried to guess the various ways the little ruby heart could represent. It was made all of the funnier considering it was on Valentine's Day, even though that Valentine's Day hadn't exactly been that great. It had been amusing with Papyrus and Undyne and Alphys all trying to help you though. And then of course there was the accidental kiss and how your mom had reacted when you told her. Toriel−

Toriel. Your mom. Your friends. Ebott. Your life. It all came back to you in a rush. You fell over clutching your head as the memories came at you. You remembered then. This wasn't nearly the first time you had been here. These Ruins were completely familiar to you. The Underground had been your playground for countless timelines. You were far older than your physical body showed. And you had once again ripped your friends' lives away from them.

You stared at the ring on your hand as a sob hiccuped out of you. You had hurt them again. You had broken your promise. You couldn't get the image of their horrified faces out of your mind. You could still remember the flash of betrayal across Sans's face right before you had RESET. Your family had been worried for you. You hadn't explained. There was no reason to. They wouldn't remember.

You didn't know how you were going to face them all again. You were all once again strangers. All of your history with them was erased. You were the only one who remembered the love you all had shared. You were once again alone. You would probably die again before you reached the end. You didn't want to die. It was so tiring now. You wondered if you had enough determination to come back to life when you died. After all, you had ruined everything again.

But you remembered why you were here. You thought about the joy on your friends' faces. You thought about what had brought you to RESET again and to break your promise. You had a plan. And that was what would keep you going. You would play the same role again and again if you had to. Your feet wouldfollow a familiar path, would repeat age-old words. And you would become friends with those you knew everything about. You would exit the Ruins, and you would shake Sans's hand. And you would laugh at his jokes as Papyrus tried to capture you once again. And you would fight Papyrus, and the dogs, and the other monsters. You would date, and run, and hug, and talk, and you would do what you had to until you met Asriel again.

It hurt, though. All around you were familiar faces, but they looked at you without recognition. Everyone was younger again. Toriel fought you and you defeated her without hurting her. You soaked up the warmth of her body as she hugged you once last time. It would be the last time you hugged her. You entered the cold and snow and met Sans again. The lack of recognition made you want to cry again, but the old haunted look in his face was worse. You wondered if he had looked at the timeline. You could get rid of the notes, but you hadn't had access to the machine that tracked the timeline. What would he think when he saw how far you all had gotten, just for you to RESET again? You would need to hurry through faster.

Papyrus never changed, at least. He didn't have a care in the world as he battled you. You refused to harm him. Your friends didn't know how you could use the same magic as them. You wouldn't be able to use it here. You knew Sans would follow you through the Underground to keep an eye on you as favor to Toriel. You couldn't let him get suspicious. You couldn't let him know. He couldn't interfere.

Undyne's hatred for you was an old wound. You couldn't bring yourself to even be scared of her. Death was almost funny. You thought about how you would joke about it with Sans. It was such a dark thing to laugh about, but it was better to laugh than cry. You ran from her like you always did. Her frustrated yells brought back happy memories rather than scary ones. If you pretended hard enough, you could almost fool yourself into thinking it was just another game back in Ebott when you had been a child. Just another summer day after the rains, running from your friends as you played tag. Lansot, back to their childhood size and personality, only strengthened those feelings. You would never get to experience their friendship again after this. When you split up with them after rescuing them from their near-fatal fall, you silently whispered a goodbye.

You battled Undyne. And you ran again. You kept running until you saved her from heat stroke. And then you went on a platonic date with her. And then you ran some more through Hotland, meeting Alphys and Mettaton all over again in her laboratory. She was back to stuttering and being unable to really face you. Alphys had always been awkward and shy and passionate, but you had forgotten how bad it was before the story of the Amalgamates had been revealed. You didn't even need Alphys's help to answer Mettaton's questions. He never changed the order up. You didn't resist the urge to tease Alphys about Undyne, though. You wondered if Undyne and Alphys would once again get married. Their wedding had been so beautiful.

The puzzles of Hotland were nothing for you, but the enemies were still just as difficult. Sometimes you forgot what you needed to do to calm them down. You took more damage than you cared to admit. Muffet's pet finally got you. You decided being eaten alive was one of your least favorite ways to die. But you came back, and you won. And you met Sans again. Your date was stilted compared to other dates you had went on with him. The atmosphere was friendly at best, but distant at worse. You couldn't allow yourself to beg for his forgiveness. He didn't know. You missed him so much and he was right across the table from you. You ate your food silently.

"you look down, kid. somethin' troublin' you?" Sans asked, changing the script up. You needed to pull yourself together. You wish you had his jacket. Instead you shook your head.

"I just . . . miss my family." You confessed.

"don't worry kiddo. you'll be fine. i'm rootin' for ya."

You rented a hotel room and crawled into the bed to rest. You knew you wouldn't get any sleep, but you needed some time to yourself. You pretended that the tears in your eyes were from laughing at the silly music the bed made. You didn't want to leave the covers.

You moved on and you faced Mettaton. You allowed yourself to remember the times you had been on stage with him before, dancing and playing with him. You remembered how he had encouraged you and how much fun it had been to talk with him while he gave you a makeover.

Sans greeted you in the Judgement Hall. You expected another change in script, but instead he gave you the same old spiel. You remembered the times you'd Loaded a Save just so you could acquire the key to his lab. Sans had seemed so mysterious back then. Now you knew him almost as well as you knew yourself. He disappeared through a shortcut that he didn't know you could also use. Instead you walked past the shortcut and decided not to allow the familiar magic of the hole to remind you of the road trip you and Sans had gone on when you had graduated.

Asgore was horrified to see you. You smiled gently at him, pity for both his role and yours in this story washing through you. It wouldn't be much longer. You knew all of your dad's moves. He had taught you how to Fight. You were almost done. He was almost easy to defeat. You remembered how fiercely your father had fought Gaster. Flowey killed Asgore and took the Souls before shutting down the "game".

You fought him. You died.

You fought him again. You died again.

You didn't stop. You kept dying. You cried for help.

Your friends didn't come. But the human Souls responded. You wondered what those children had been like. You wondered if you could've been friends with them.

You Spared Flowey.

You Loaded your Save. And then you went to go find Undyne and set her up with Alphys. You hated reentering the True Lab. You knew Gaster was no longer here, but you were still scared. The creature that had always scared you that was behind the shower curtain wasn't there anymore. If you laid in bed, nothing tucked you in. One of the Amalgamates was missing. You decided not to think too hard on it.

Finally you were reunited with your friends. They all stood before you, joking and laughing. You soaked in the image even though you could practically quote what all they would say to each other. You smiled and tried not to look as sad as you felt. When Flowey showed up, you were unsurprised. You went through the motions, feeling determination fill you. This was it. This is what you worked so hard towards. You would save Asriel this time if it killed you (haha, another joke! Sans would've liked that one).

You could see the confusion in Asriel's face even as he continued to fight you. You ignored the fact that you were called Chara. You wondered, as you worked hard to Save your friends from Asriel, what Chara would've done if they were here. You wondered if Chara really was here. You hadn't heard the whispering in your mind this time around telling you to kill everyone. It was easier to Save your friends this time. Your love for them increased your power. And your love for Asriel scared the monster. He struggled as you continued to call out to him over and over again. He began to cry, and you felt your resolve harden to something stronger than a diamond.

Asriel stood before you then, his child form a familiar and almost comforting figure. You smiled sadly at him as he said your name, accepting that Chara was no longer there. His words were a script in your mind, but it wrenched your heart just the same. This was the child you never really got to know, but you felt like he was a very good friend of yours. You were certain that, had you the time, you would've become best friends. It seemed, though, that such a role was meant for another.

"Asriel." You whispered, cutting him off. He paused.

"Y . . . yeah?" He asked, surprised. You approached him. Your hands were shaking. Everything relied on your knowledge of this story and how all of the pieces played together. You hoped −by the stars, you hoped− that this would work. That this would be it.

You took a breath. "With all of those souls . . . you're as powerful as a god, right? You'll . . . destroy the barrier?"

Asriel seemed a little caught off guard. "I. Y-Yeah! I'm going to use everyone to break the barrier. And then I'll . . . I'll return to . . ."

You shook your head. "Don't." You told him.

"Frisk?"

"Asriel, you have the power to do . . . what nobody else can. You can go back. You can stop this . . . all of this . . . from happening." He needed to understand. He needed to see the possibility he held here. The one that you had never considered in a past timeline because you had always thought within the bounds of this story. But no longer. You were breaking the script. Together you would rewrite this story.

Asriel stared at you, confusion floating in his eyes. "What do you mean?" You could sense the magical power within him. Would he be able to maintain that form? You were sure you had a limit before the souls tried to rebel.

"You and I both know about . . . the RESETs. And the power of Determination. And we also know the limits. We can only RESET so far, right?" You smiled carefully. "But you're a god now. You can . . . you can break the rules Asriel."

Asriel huffed a disbelieving laugh. "Frisk, I . . . I don't think I can−"

"Try." You begged. This had to work. You didn't give up everything for this.

"What are you even asking me?" He was scared, but you could tell it was because of the looming possibility. The hope in what you were suggestion.

"Go back." You told him. "Go back to before Chara died. And stop this cycle. You can do it."

Asriel shook his head, taking a step back. "I can't!" You grabbed his hand determinedly.

"You can. You can, Asriel."

Asriel stared at you for a long moment, thinking about it all. You knew he believed you. You were certain he could do this. He squeezed your hand back. "You're talking about a True Reset, though. I'll forget everything."

You took off your ring and slid it onto his claw finger. It barely stuck on the finger, but it was enough. "This ring will stay with you when you RESET. It will remind you."

"Frisk−"

The gravity of the situation was weighing in on you. You gritted your teeth against the sorrow and hope warring in your chest. Your eyes watered, but you smiled at him. "You can do it, Asriel. Please. Do it for . . . for me. Because I can't."

Asriel met your eyes. The possibilities ran through his eyes as they widened with understanding. He grabbed your hands tightly then and yanked you into a hug. You held him close and began to cry, burying your face into the warm fur of his long ears. He held you like you had him in so many past timelines. It was strange for you to give up your role to Asriel. It was his turn to be the savior of the monsters.

"Frisk. Thank you." He told you. You could feel his own tears on your shoulder. You shuddered as you laughed lightly. You understood now the acceptance of your fate.

"I don't want to let go." You confessed quietly. Asriel squeezed you tighter in return. You gently pulled away then and stared at him. He wiped his eyes. "You're going to do . . . great things, Asriel. Be strong, okay? And . . . and take care of them for me. All of them."

Asriel laughed shakily. "You make it sound like we'll never see you again, Frisk!"

You took another step back to give him room. "Good luck." You whispered.

Asriel nodded to you. You watched as his body glowed and as the souls of all of the monsters and humans wrapped around him. The magical energy was overwhelming. It blinded you. You closed your eyes and hoped that they would get the happy ending they all deserved.

* * *

Asriel opened his eyes in his bedroom feeling like he'd had a particularly sad dream. He blinked away the sleepiness in his eyes and sat up, rubbing that them. His fur was wet. Had he been crying? He couldn't remember. It was still extremely early judging by how quiet the house was. His dad would usually wake up to get started on tending to the gardens if it was early. It must still be night time.

Asriel glanced over across the room at Chara. His sibling was still fast asleep, their face slack with relaxation. Their fingers twitched occasionally against their pillow. Asriel still thought that humans looked so interesting and strange. Something about Chara made Asriel want to cry again. He rubbed at his chest idly and felt something catch on his shirt.

He frowned and looked at his hand. There was something on his finger. It was too small to be worn, so he tugged it off. It stuck fast for a moment, but then slipped easily off. Asriel was just able to make it out in the darkness. It was a ring of some sort. He couldn't see the color, but there was a little heart jewel on it. Where had it come from? Asriel didn't wear any type of jewelry. It looked like it would fit Chara, but Chara didn't wear jewelry.

So why did Asriel feel like he's seen this ring worn by Chara before? It was . . . it had been dark. And Chara had been crying. And they were talking, placing the ring in his hand. But when he looked at them, that wasn't Chara. Chara's hair wasn't quite that color. They weren't quite that shape. Their eyes were darker. That was . . .?

Asriel felt his soul grow cold as he grabbed his chest with a gasp. He remembered now. That was Frisk. The other humans. He remembered Chara's plan. He remembered being a flower and the power of Determination. He remembered all of it.

He threw himself across the room and onto Chara. The human cried out at the sudden awakening, thrashing at the body on them. Asriel burst into tears and hugged Chara close to him, sobbing. Chara stopped flailing, but their body was stiff with their confusion.

"Asriel?" They asked in that quiet voice of theirs.

"Chara, you're alive! We're alive!" Asriel responded, hiding his face into their chest. Chara hesitantly patted Asriel's head, no less confused.

"Nightmare?" They asked.

Asriel wished that he could say yes. He wanted to say that it was all a bad dream and that Chara wouldn't die and that Asriel wouldn't have been experimented on and reborn as a soulless husk of a flower. He desperately wished that he had dreamt of all of those times he had killed not only his parents, but also all of the other monsters in the Underground. If only it had all been a crazy dream.

But the ring in his hand protested to his account. He definitely hadn't fallen asleep with any jewelry on. This was Frisk's ring. They had said it would come back with him when he RESET, but he hadn't believed it completely until then. He still had the ring, and it had reminded him of everything. He needed to put a stop to this. He could tell having looked at Frisk that the human had RESET far too many times. There had been an age in their eyes that no child should have. Asriel could only guess the joys and hardships they had experienced. He had been a flower for so long that feeling this much was a little overwhelming. He shook his head.

"Chara, I don't want to go through with the plan!" He told his sibling. Chara sat up quickly, grabbing Asriel's hand. Asriel clung to it for support.

"What do you mean?" Chara demanded. Their rust brown eyes darted all over his face. Asriel clenched his fist around the ring more, feeling the metal dig into his paw.

"I don't . . . I don't think I can go through with killing humans." Asriel confessed quietly.

Chara grabbed Asriel's cheeks to make him look at them. Their face was stern, determined. "Yes, you can." Chara denied. "We can do it."

Asriel had to convince them. Chara just wanted to free the monsters. Asriel knew that. But he also knew very well that Chara was not the kind person he had convinced himself they were. He knew better now. He knew what a truly kind human looked like from Frisk. He kept them in mind as he slowly took Chara's hands off his face and shook his head.

"No." Asriel said, steadier this time. Chara seemed confused again, wary now. "I can't do it. Let's think of another plan."

"We need to free everyone." Chara protested.

"And we will!" Asriel nodded once, determined himself. He squeezed Chara's hand and scooted closer so their legs were touching. "But we're still young, Chara. We don't need to do this right away. We can think of a better plan where you don't have to die."

"If I die, you can leave the barrier sooner." Chara glared a little, annoyed.

"I don't want you to die." Asriel whispered, his voice lowering to a pleading tone. Chara's glare lightened. Asriel was sickened of all of the deaths of humans,, but he didn't know what else to do. It was either Chara, or someone else. Chara would try to force the plan if Asriel didn't offer a different solution. He didn't want this to happen, but he was sure Chara would be able to do it. He had a plan that he hoped wouldn't backfire. He trusted Chara to do the right thing. He was sure that, under different circumstances, Chara could be like Frisk. Asriel hoped to walk with Chara down that path.

He took a breath. "Let me tell you about Determination."

* * *

Long ago, two races ruled over Earth: Humans and Monsters. One day, war broke out between the two races. After a long battle, the humans were victorious. They sealed the monsters underground with a magic spell. Many years later, a legend formed. It was said that those who climb the mountain never return. It's said that a curious human climbed the mountain one day to see if the rumors were true, only to fall into the Underground and meet the monsters. The story goes that the human befriended the monsters, and the monsters took the human in as their own. The human and the prince of monsters became siblings. Together the two of them broke the barrier. How the barrier was broken, the monsters didn't explain. They claimed ignorance, or a fading of magic.

Many humans did not believe the monsters. The reasons for the start of the war between humans and monsters never reached the humans. The humans forgot there even was a war. The monsters, fearing the humans would turn on them, instead chose to lie. The humans, not having proof of any lies, eventually gave up as the years passed.

Prince Asriel and the Monster Ambassador Chara led the monsters into the human world and out of the Underground. With the help of a human on their side, the humans allowed the monsters to integrate easier, although it was still very much rough waters for many decades. It wasn't easy for humans to adjust to these strange creatures and their magic. Conflict was bound to occur. The monsters were prepared for it, although most just aimed for peace. The humans were worried about the magic of the monsters, and the monsters were worried about the humans discovering just how powerful they were against monsters.

It was an uneasy peace.

But the years passed without too many serious troubles. Asriel aged, and his parents grew older. He prepared to take the throne with his sibling by his side. Asriel was kept extremely busy with his duties. One of the first things he did, as soon as the mountain was secured as property of the monsters and Ebott (or, as his dad liked to call it, New Home) was set up, was close off the dangerous hole into the Underground. Asriel didn't want to risk any humans wandering up the mountain and falling to their deaths. To him there were far too many deaths on his and Chara's hands, even if only Asriel actually remembered them. There was a graveyard near the top of the mountain for the humans who sacrificed themselves to free the monsters. It had taken Asriel a long time to become friendly with some dying humans. Time was worth it if it meant he could reduce the bloodshed. Only one of the people buried here had been unwilling. The very first soul they needed to get Asriel out of the barrier. It had been angry with him when it had been inside of him. He hoped they forgave him when he released the souls while breaking the barrier.

Asriel watched as a different generation of monsters were born and raised on the surface. He was reluctant to meet with the Royal Scientist Dr. Gaster and his assistant Dr. Alphys, but he found them nice enough. Chara didn't like Dr. Gaster's interest in Chara's Soul. Asriel didn't like it either. He worried that Gaster knew about Determination. He wasn't sure how to convince Gaster not to bother with it.

Asriel knew all of the hopes and dreams of all of the monsters who had been alive when he had been Flowey. It had taken time to make friends and have them open up to him, but he'd had time on his hands. It was only when he knew everything did he grow bored and frustrated and decided to go down a darker path.

Knowing all of this, he understood that Gaster might go somewhere he should not. Which is why Asriel and Chara introduced Gaster to the skeleton brothers. Asriel couldn't help but smile at the young Sans as he marveled at Gaster. He knew that Sans had enjoyed working with Gaster, so he wished them the best of luck.

Asriel also made sure to talk to his dad about possibly mentoring some young and excited monsters who wanted to train to become part of the royal guard. Asriel knew his dad was powerful even in his old age, so Asriel offered to start taking over the duties of the king. He was pleased to see his father laughing as a younger Undyne and Papyrus tried their hand at defeating the old king.

Chara stayed with the monsters all of these years, standing by Asriel's side even as the human aged. In all of the years Chara didn't stray into the darker realms that Asriel dreamed about sometimes. There were days he woke up terrified with the image of Chara with their "creepy face" standing over him as he cried not to be killed. Asriel would retreat to his study on those days and cover his face, realizing how powerless he had truly been as Flowey. It just made him all the more determined not to let Chara become like that. It seemed that day would never come.

The Dreemurr's castle was built into the side of the mountain, standing out on the landscape. Asriel liked to stand with Chara on the balcony, staring out of the city sprawled below them as well as the skyscrapers in the distance lit up as the stars came out. The upper world was so strange and bright, but Asriel had grown to love the wind in his fur and his best friend by his side on warm summer nights like this.

"Chara?" He asked. The human hummed, glancing at him from where they had been looking at their cell phone. Chara was such a busy person. Quiet moments like these were to be cherished. "Thank you."

"For what?" Chara asked, putting away their phone and leaning on the balcony railing with Asriel. They knocked away an ear that blew gently into their face, making Asriel laugh.

"For sticking by me all these years."

Chara glanced downwards, fiddling with the old heart locket that hung from around their neck. Sometimes, in quiet contemplative moments like these, Asriel wondered if they remembered any of the other timelines too. "We're best friends." Chara said finally, grabbing Asriel's paw and fingering the ruby heart on the ring he wore there. The band was a mixture of different colored silvers, having been refitted over the years. "Forever."

Asriel smiled and ducked his head, happiness warming his chest and throat. "Yeah. Forever!"

* * *

 **A/N: Frisk's theme for this chapter is Roxas's Theme (with lyrics. Look up Lizz Robinett's).**

 **I'm worried about the ending of this chapter. Please tell me what you think! I know I left a lot open to interpretation of the reader!**

 **If you have any questions that you really need answered, ask me on my tumblr! I'll probably explain the ending more if enough people really want to know.**


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